Monday, October 15, 2007

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY HALL OF SHAME

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY HALL OF SHAME

The Western Michigan University Faculty Hall of Shame is intended to inform WMU students and other interested persons of the misdeeds of faculty members at WMU. The criterion for membership is misuse of power over students for political purposes. This can include criminal acts, assaulting or harassing students, grading students based on political positions or activities, stifling dissenting viewpoints in class, or using class time or assignments for propagandizing for political positions rather than teaching the proper subjects of their courses. Being liberal is neither necessary nor sufficient for membership. Documentation or eyewitness testimony are required for induction.

Dr. Sushi Datta-SanduPolitical ScienceDr. Datta-Sandhu uses her classes for the purpose of propagandizing her students. In Introduction to Political Science, PSCI 105, she has promoted liberalism, abortion, gun control, feminism, and Islam. She forced her students to read a 600-page novel about abortion which argues against parental consent laws. She hosted a forum on Islam in which the only views allowed were pro-Islam. She forced her students to read obscure feminist writings (remember, this was in an introductory class). She promoted the feminist view of women as victims of a patriarchy, but she rejected out of hand the notion that women should be allowed to carry guns to defend themselves. She showed graphic films on the abuses of apartheid, but she never mentioned the much worse atrocities of communist governments. She is intolerant of conservative opinions in her classes.

Dr. Norman HawkerBusinessIn 2002, Dr. Hawker offered extra credit to his class for volunteering on a political campaign. However, he only gave contact information to one political campaign, that of Democrat Ed LaForge, who was vying with Republican Tom George for a state senate seat. As one student put it: “This was not an accidental, innocent mistake made by Hawker… Rather, there is evidence that he had clear intentions in mind; intentions that would benefit both the Ed LaForge campaign and Kalamazoo Democrats alike. Hawker not only contributed a generous sum of money to the LaForge campaign, but also made numerous contributions to Democrats across the state (www.michigan.gov). Even more obvious are his ties to the LaForge campaign, for which [his] wife is treasurer.” (source: Western Herald, October 15, 2002) The clear purpose of such actions was to use his position of power over students to advance a political cause he supported.

Dr. Lawrence PotterBlack Americana StudiesDr. Potter, the director of Black Americana Studies, is also extremely intolerant of conservative beliefs. The WMU NAACP approached the College Republicans to have a debate about affirmative action. Although presented as balanced, the debate was very one-sided, with both the panels and the audience stacked for the other side. Dr. Potter served as the “mediator,” saying things such as "Well, YOUR President says this...." and "Don't you think that's a little hypocritical..." (source: Western Herald, April 9 2003) Girls from his class threatened one of the debate participants for two years afterward, saying "Dr. Potter taught us to go against girls like you....rich white girls!" After that student sent him a polite email about the situation, he accused her of harassment. He filed a complaint with the Student Judicial Council and tried to get her expelled from Western. His complaint was dismissed, and she was found not responsible. To this day, he is spiteful towards her. He is anti-white, opposes personal responsibility, and promotes hate.

In 2004, Dr. Potter was arrested early in the morning in Bronson Park for accosting and soliciting a prostitute. He eventually pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct. (source: Western Herald, January 6, 2005)

Dr. Edith FisherWomen’s StudiesDr. Fisher was extremely upset at the fact that Pat Buchanan, an advocate of immigration reform, came to speak at Western on Cesar Chavez Day, the birthday of the late union organizer. She took offense at flyers advertising this event and pointing out this coincidence. She tore down a number of these flyers, claiming that they were illegally posted, despite the fact that dozens of other groups had posted flyers in the same locations, including the Political Science department. She tore down a poster of Buchanan costing $30, crumpled it, and went to her women’s studies class. She then impaled it on a Mexican flag, “symbolically forcing it through Buchanan’s face.” A student got word of this, and several College Republicans went to investigate. They found her waving flyers and screaming. Not realizing that a class was in session, a student went to retrieve the poster. He was assaulted (shoved) by Dr. Fisher. Or, in her version of the story, “I was scared. It felt like my classroom was under siege.” She later filed a compliant against the student. (source: Western Herald, May 23, 2005)

Dr. Allen Carey-WebbEnglishIn 1983, a Guatemalan woman named Rigoberta Menchu published I, Rigoberta Menchu, a book which purported to be an autobiography of her life. She describes many brutal atrocities committed by the military government in its long war against the FMLN communist guerrillas. The book became a sensation on the left, was assigned reading at thousands of colleges, and in 1992 Menchu won the Nobel Peace Prize. However, her book was later exposed as a fraud. She made up many specific charges, including the torture of one brother and the death of another who is still alive. (source: Intellectual Morons by Dan Flynn) What is most shocking is what happened next. Many professors continued to teach the book as if nothing had changed. That includes Allen Carey-Webb: “We have a higher standard of truth for poor people like Rigoberta Menchu… If we find a flaw in her, it doesn’t mean her whole argument goes down the drain.” He continued to teach her book, but he did allow criticism from another source. (source: Chronicle of Higher Education, January 15, 1999)

Dr. Richard MacDonaldSociologyDr. MacDonald consistently dismisses any kind of conservative thought, and routinely attacks conservative thinking in his classroom. He also prefers to interpret conservatism in ways that work well with his political agenda and ideology, no matter how incorrect they are. When speaking of the Heritage Foundation, Dr. MacDonald said “when you read some report they have, you should ask yourself ‘what are they going to spin today?’” When speaking of constitutional constructionism, he claimed that what constructionism means for conservatives is that we wish to return to the days when women and African-Americans had no rights, especially when it comes to voting rights. Of course, this is not true. He also claims that ALL poverty in this country is caused by government policies meant to marginalize the poor. Once again, here is an instructor who fails to take into account personal responsibility.